ESA and the Italian space agency have jointly decided to move the venue of the upcoming Council at Ministerial level, initially scheduled to take place in Caserta on 20-21 November, to the close city of Naples.

ESA was informed at the end of last week that the Italian authorities, as the result of a safety inspection, had not authorised the use of part of the Royal Palace of Caserta for the meeting.

Consequently, ESA and the Italian space agency, ASI, have jointly decided to hold the Ministerial Council at Mostra d'Oltremare in Naples, where the International Astronautical Congress took place a few weeks ago.

The change of location will not affect the planned overall programme, nor the detailed timeline of the meetings.

Media wishing to attend must be accredited by 5 November. To obtain a personal access badge, press credentials are required for accreditation. The passport or national ID card listed on the accreditation form must be shown at the venue. No other means of identification will be accepted. For accreditation, please fill out the form at:http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMICBGYD7H_index_0.html

For this new venue, ESA is not arranging accommodation for media.

A background note covering the objectives and programmatic aspects for debate and tabled for discussion will be issued by early November.

Provisional press programme

Please note that the proceedings are not open to media.

Monday, 19 November

14:00-19:00Opening of Press Centre & accreditation formalities

Tuesday, 20 November

08:00Opening of Press Centre & accreditation formalities

08:45-09:00Opportunity for photographers to be in the conference room

09:00Council meeting at ministerial level starts (not open to media)

11:15Press briefing: introduction to the Council deliberations

12:45Official group photo of Ministers (for professional photographers only)

13:00Lunch break

15:00Meeting resumes

18:00End of meeting followed by press briefing

Wednesday, 21 November

08:00Opening of Press Centre

09:00Meeting resumes (not open to media)

12:30 or 17:00Expected end of meeting, followed by a press conference with the ESA Director General and the Chairs of the Council at ministerial level.

20:00Press Centre closes

All requests for interviews should be addressed to ESA Media Relations at the Press Centre.

About the European Space Agency
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe's gateway to space.ESA is an intergovernmental organisation, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe's space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.

ESA has 19 Member States: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, of whom 17 are Member States of the EU. Poland will join as a full Member State by the next Council at Ministerial Level.

ESA has Cooperation Agreements with nine other Member States of the EU and is negotiating an Agreement with the one remaining (Bulgaria). Canada takes part in some ESA programmes under a Cooperation Agreement.

By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, ESA can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country.

ESA develops the launchers, spacecraft and ground facilities needed to keep Europe at the forefront of global space activities.

Today, it launches satellites for Earth observation, navigation, telecommunications and astronomy, sends probes to the far reaches of the Solar System and cooperates in the human exploration of space.